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2003-05-28

BHT NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES

Meeting Date: May 28, 2003

Meeting Started: 7:15 PM

Meeting held: West Linn City Hall

BHT Neighborhood Association (new name, adopted at this meeting) = Barrington Heights, Hidden Creek Estates, and Tanner Creek Neighborhood Association. The name was formerly Barrington Heights Neighborhood Association but was changed this year due to the similarity and confusion with the Barrington Heights Homeowners Association.

Last year’s annual meeting minutes were read by Sue Jones, President. They were reviewed and approved.

Approximately 275 notices for this annual meeting were sent to our Neighborhood Association residents – 16 residents attended this year, which is similar to last year. Last year’s neighborhood association meeting only included Barrington Heights residents, however, during this past year it expanded to include the Barrington residents on Radcliff Court (gated community on Imperial Drive), the newly developed Phase 10, Hidden Creek Estates on Fairhaven Drive, and Tanner Creek (gated community on Beacon Hill). The history of our Neighborhood Association and accomplishments this past year were explained by Sue Jones. Sue stated that our NA was initially created in January 2002 solely to address traffic and land use issues.

Due to some residents wanting more than just these two items addressed, the City agreed that the issues to be addressed by our NA should be much broader. Sue discussed the possibility of re-paving Barrington Drive. The cost to do this was estimated at $100,000. The City doesn’t have an extra $100,000 dollars. Most of the roads in the neighborhood have been completed. The City has agreed to re-surface Barrington Drive, but not re-pave it. They are deciding when; other streets in West Linn also need re-surfacing. We are fortunate to have them consider resurfacing Barrington Drive. This item is on the City’s agenda, though not at the priority we’d like. We just need to lobby to move it up on the list, that way we might be able to achieve this goal this year. Also discussed was a sign at Barrington Drive and Salamo, and on Beacon Hill facing Stonegate, that would state “construction trucks are to use Parker Road”. These are intended to limit construction vehicles through our neighborhood. Presently, construction trucks travel via Barrington Drive and Beacon Hill to get to Stonegate and other construction further back in the City.

The City was agreeable to have these signs installed. The neighborhood association can go before the traffic advisory committee and to City Council to make requests regarding traffic issues. Enforcement of the postings would be borne by the residents, or self-enforced. We could not rely on the police, as this is not a City ordinance. The signs would be placed until they are no longer needed, until construction is completed. At this time there is still a lot of building go on around us, possibly for another 3 years. Hopefully by the end of this year those signs would be placed – we just don’t know when. There is an enhanced crosswalk right out front of City hall. We could do this in our neighborhood, but along with the bumps we would have to have warning signs indicating they exist to warn motorists, which could be considered more of a nuisance, or traffic graffiti. Using the West Linn City Hall raised enhanced crosswalk as a prototype, we could place one at Beacon Hill and one on Fairhaven Drive. The city will also allow us to consider ones at Imperial and Beacon Hill at the intersection of Riverknoll. The costs for these would be borne by BHTNA. The location for any of these traffic-mitigating devices would follow Kittleson’s Traffic Calming plan (written by Marc Batoric -Traffic Engineer).

We have a traffic committee liaison, Diana Tonks, who is contributing to the Barrington Heights newsletter. One of the concerns we have with the traffic study is it may need to count some other key intersections. We still may need other areas of the neighborhood counted for traffic to determine the number of trips generated. Currently we don’t qualify for all of the traffic mitigation’s proposed because the traffic counts aren’t high enough. In order to have traffic calming devices, the traffic counts need to be at least 2000 per day, which is a City requirement. We have a new web site. Right now it is in the beginning stages of operation. One suggestion is to post traffic issues for this association to discuss. Please post the issues you feel are important to enhance our neighborhood. Michael Fullman created the website. Thank you, Michael! He brought copies of the web site address, and distributed them. Please go to the site, sign-up and post what you like on it. The address is http://www.neighbormap.org/or/westlinn/barrington/index.htm

Voting took place on a new name for our Neighborhood Association (NA) because Barrington Heights Neighborhood Association was similar/confusing with the Barrington Heights Homeowners Association. West Linn Heights Neighborhood Association and BHT Neighborhood Association (Barrington Heights, Hidden Creek Estates, and Tanner Creek Neighborhood Association, representing the 3 subdivisions names) were proposed. West Linn Heights NA got 5 votes; BHT NA got 8 votes and became the new name.

NA Elections of the 2003-2004 BHTNA Board occurred. Last year, the Barrington Heights Homeowners Association Board was also elected as the Neighborhood Association Board because it was the first year the NA existed. Nominations of volunteers to be President, VP, Secretary and Treasurer were solicited from the floor. The time commitment depends on what direction the association wants to take. The Traffic Committee is already in place; Sue Jones and Ron Weiss are co-chairs of the Traffic Committee. Tony is on the committee as well. Anyone wanting to serve on this committee call Sue Jones and you’re on it. Ken Parker volunteered to serve on the Traffic Committee; his number is 503-723-0780.

§ Pam Yokubaitis stated communication to all NA residents will be the goal for this next year. By establishing a communication network, the residents will learn more about what their NA is doing for them. Communication can occur via email, or mailed newsletter. Shauna Shroyer is our City Volunteer Coordinator; she can be reached at 503-723-2544 for any assistance.

§ A resident directory was suggested, along with a map with the boundaries of our neighborhood association.

§ Keeping the kids from putting soap into the fountains was a concern. There is a product that can be put in the fountain to defoam it. Call the non-emergency police line if you see it done or anything suspicious.

§ Numerous cars are parked on Barrington Drive: “looks like a car business”. Inform the residents this is a safety and an aesthetic issue. Officer Linda Fisher-Lewis has talked to some of the homeowners not to park at the intersection of Riverknoll and Barrington Drive. We can talk about this further in the Traffic Committee.

§ If you have any other issues post them on the web site. Guest speaker from the police department was Officer Linda Fisher-Lewis. Linda has been an Officer since 1987. She has been working as a West Linn Police Officer since 1995. Her current shift is 10 PM to 6 AM. This is one of her neighborhoods to patrol. After the traffic meeting on February 26, 2003, she got a lot of calls from our residents since she is here to help us with the traffic issues. She regularly accesses her email and voicemail, so she is accessible. She is the only female officer in West Linn. The City of West Linn’s speed cart at the bottom of Fairhaven Drive’s hill (visibly indicating the speed as you drove) was very successful. The City was surprised to see some of the speeds along that street. You can offer your driveway as a place for police officers to sit and monitor the streets and use their radar. The main objective is to correct the behavior of the drivers. Officer Scott Anderson is also assigned to our neighborhood. From the traffic meeting they have found out that Imperial is like a raceway – West Linn Police Department knows it is an issue. Since the February traffic meeting, Linda hasn’t seen a lot of infractions. No cars were going over 26 miles an hour. As a rule she pulls over and writes citations to motorists for speeds achieved in excess of 9 miles over the posted speed limit. However, it seemed that stop signs were not a priority. More stop signs may be placed at intersections in our neighborhood. The cost for running a stop sign is $359.

Don’t leave garage doors open! West Linn is an affluent community and there have been identity thefts and theft from garage doors being left open. These are big targets for burglary. Don’t leave valuables in your cars. Take the laptops, cell phone, guns etc. out of the car (especially if left out at night). There have been attempted auto thefts, car break ins, and wheels stolen off of vehicles in the last two months. There is a current minimum staff of three officers on patrol at any given time. The City of West Linn is broken into two districts. One officer works in one district, and the other officer in the other district; there is also a supervisor. More of what we see are property crimes; there are some violent crimes, but mostly domestic disturbances. Call the police if you see anything out of the ordinary. Thank you to Linda for taking the extra time you have put in. Her extension is 476.

There is a drug problem in West Linn high schools. We do not want people to bring drugs into the neighborhood. The curfew for teens over 16 is midnight to 4 AM (this is a state law). There is also a 9:15 PM curfew for kids up to 14 (this rule is not entirely enforceable). Neighborhood Watch program – are those Neighborhood Watch signs helpful? Linda said yes. We should also post on our website what crimes have recently taken place, and place the non-emergency police number on the web site.

§ Greg Ankofski, who served on the Police Advisory Committee (PAC), asked for 10 volunteers to take a police survey around. The police department is asking residents what areas they think the police are doing well in, what issues do they need to overcome, etc. This feed back will help the department do a better job. The survey will go out sometime in July. The list of residents receiving the survey is randomly selected by computer. Anyone willing to distribute surveys please contact Greg.